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Harry Mowlam
Harold "Harry" Mowlam was a farmer and quarry owner who committed armed robbery, mistreated his animals and terrorised Beckindale. He was mad, bad and dangerous to know. Harry once tried to kill Jackie Merrick by trying to run him over. He then committed robbery and made sexual advances on Dolly Skilbeck. Mowlam and Matt Skilbeck rowed over farming matters and this lead to a huge fight where Mowlam tried to kill Matt by squeezing him in a bear hug, luckily Matt wriggled free. The same day, Mowlam met his demise when he was beaten to death by his partner in crime Derek Warner, who was worried that Mowlam's bragging about his riches, and general behaviour, would lead the police to discover their part in the robbery. Warner allowed Matt to take the blame for Mowlam's murder but when evidence mounted against Derek, he confessed to Harry's murder. No one, apart from Seth Armstrong, mourned Harry Mowlam's passing, as they all felt the village was a much better place without the nasty Mowlam causing trouble, and the villagers felt the same about his equally nasty killer when he got put in prison. Biography 1930s-1983: Born in the early 1930s, Harold Mowlam, known as Harry, later built himself up in business as a quarry owner. Harry ran a quarry in Connelton for many years. He never married or had any children. Over the years he gained a reputation as a fearsome quarry owner who drove like a maniac and was never afraid to use his fists to settle arguments. He was also vulgar and often liked to hound women. Mowlam owned a dog called Ben. Mowlam treated the dog badly, and let it run around his dangerous quarry, and the noise of the controlled explosions would not help the dog. Some of Mowlam's customers at his quarry were from Beckindale. 1983-1985: Armed robbery and deadly fight and Matt Skilbeck.]] In 1983, nasty quarry owner Harry Mowlam warred with local farmer Matt Skilbeck over Mowlam's treatment of his dog. Also, Mowlam allowed the dog to be in his noisy quarry all day. Matt had also witnessed Harry kick Ben, so Matt snatched Ben and refused to give him back. Mowlam harassed Matt into giving the dog back, and even said he would take Matt to court. In January 1984, Jackie Merrick and Mike Conrad had done a job for Mowlam but he refused to pay them. Jackie and Mike then tried to start a fight with Mowlam but they were chased away by him. Mowlam tried to knock Jackie off his motorbike. Sgt. MacArthur spoke to Harry about it, and his shady deals, but offered to overlook this if Harry dropped the case against Matt. Harry agreed to this and told Matt he could keep the "mutt". For the next year or so, Harry left the Skilbeck's alone. In September 1985, Mowlam bought some land in Beckindale, next to Emmerdale Farm. He immediately made life hell for the Sugdens and Skilbeck's by sabotaging their harvest. Jack Sugden was livid as it cost them thousands of pounds. In late October 1985, Mowlam teamed up with Derek Warner and Keith Johnson to stage a robbery on a wages van. Sandie Merrick, whose dad Tom Merrick was a mate of Derek, saw the 3 men chatting several times prior to the robbery. Mowlam supplied the explosives from his quarry. One the day of the robbery, Derek and Keith actually did the robbery, by using guns and explosives (the group had intended to rob the van then blow it up with the guards inside), while Harry was in The Woolpack at the time of the robbery, so as to purposely create an alibi. Sandie Merrick witnessed the robbery, but was unsure who the criminals were. Derek, Keith and Harry Mowlam then hid the proceeds under some rubble on Mowlam's quarry. At the same time, Mowlam made advances on his old rival Matt's pregnant wife Dolly Skilbeck, terrorising her, threatening her and causing her to have a miscarriage. After the robbery, Mowlam then started bragging about his new found riches which worried Derek and Keith as the police were on the case. Jackie Merrick even suspected that the stolen loot was hidden at Mowlam's quarry, and Sgt Ian MacArthur visited the quarry. When Ian was not looking, Mowlam quickly put bricks on the loot then a sheet of corrugated iron over it. Ian could not find anything and accused Jackie of wasting his time. Mowlam also kept the proceeds of the robbery to himself. After his visit from the police, Mowlam relocated the loot to a remote pig shelter on his land, and when Derek heard that Mowlam was buying a house, he said if Mowlam helps himself to any more of the money, he will kill him. Mowlam was forced to tell Derek where the money was hidden. Mowlam then said he could buy out half the village if he wanted, and carried on flashing his cash. So, Derek and Keith took a drunken Mowlam to a country lane and warned him to keep quiet. However, Mowlam totally ignored Derek's warnings and became more and more crazy, and he yet again made more advances to Dolly Skilbeck, to get at his rival Matt. Matt saw one of Mowlam's pigs was caught up in barbed wire and said it needed a vet. Mowlam caught Matt and violently forced Matt and Jackie off his land. A short time later, Matt even took some of Mowlam's neglected sheep away for treatment. Some of the sheep died while in Matt's care, even though Matt did his best for them. Nasty Mowlam blamed Matt, wanting compensation, and made a pass at his wife Dolly in the street, scaring her. Mowlam still bragged about his riches so Derek Warner was hunting him down. The same day, Matt caught Mowlam stealing some of his sheep, and a huge fight ensued. Mowlam had Matt in a bear hug, and was going to kill him, so Matt wriggled his arms free and squeezed Mowlam's neck to get free. Mowlam then lost his balance and fell down the riverbank into the river. He sat up in the river and vowed to get revenge on everyone who he warred with. Matt was dazed and confused, but Mowlam was still alive. Matt went home, with cuts and bruises. 1986: Death and aftermath The following morning, Henry Wilks found Harry badly beaten shortly before he died, and raced home to call the police. When Matt heard that Mowlam had been found dead, he was shocked and was unsure whether he killed Mowlam. Matt handed himself in, and faced tough questioning. Mowlam had died from drowning after being left face down in the water, after being delivered several blows to the head. Also, the police knew that Mowlam had caused Matt's wife to suffer a miscarriage so Matt had motive to kill him. The police also thought that due to the marks on Mowlam's neck, that Matt held Mowlam underwater until he finished him off, so Matt was then charged with murder. Matt knew he was dazed after the fight with Mowlam and he cannot remember if he killed him or not. Matt suggested that Mowlam may have died of a heart attack after the fight, but the autopsy refuted this suggestion. Matt was not off the hook. At the same time, some of Mowlam's relatives heard of his death and wanted to buy his land. Many villagers were relieved to hear of Mowlam's death, as he was a sadistic and very nasty man. Due to Harry's reputation, the villagers worried that more Mowlam's would move to the village if they bought his old land. To try and get Matt to regain some memory, Henry Wilks took Matt back to the fight scene, and after Matt told him where the fight happened, Wilks said that he found Mowlam's body 20 yards downstream from where Matt last saw him. This made Matt think he was innocent, as he was not strong enough to drag a man almost twice his size downstream to kill him. Matt's lawyer Mr Barrett told Matt and his family at Emmerdale not to put in a bid for Mowlam's land as it would make the police think that Matt had yet another motive to kill Mowlam. But Derek Warner begun acting strangely, and was hinting about how Mowlam may have been murdered. The police found evidence which linked Derek to the robbery, as well as Mowlam's involvement. They found that the robbery proceeds was buried on Mowlam's old land. In late March, Mowlam's body was released and he was buried in Beckindale Cemetery. The police soon overheard Derek saying he could kill Keith Johnson like he did Harry Mowlam. Keith was caught but Derek got away and held Donald Hinton hostage. Derek said to Hinton that he killed Mowlam. Hinton persuaded Derek to hand himself in. Derek surrendered his gun and was then arrested. He then confessed to Harry Mowlam's murder and Matt was acquitted. Harry Mowlam could finally rest in peace. The memory of the murder, and Mowlam, was felt for several years afterwards by other villagers. In October 1987, Alan Turner mentioned Mowlam while saying that being a neighbour of Emmerdale Farm can be dangerous. In 1988, 2 years after Mowlam's death, Dolly mentioned her miscarriage caused by Mowlam, saying she still feels very sorry about it, which indicated that her and Matt's ordeal with Mowlam would always leave an unwanted legacy. The same year, Jack also said that Beckindale has never been a very safe place to live, and he has cursed some of its people over the years, indirectly referring to Mowlam, who Jack hated. Quotes "I'll have you Skilbeck. You and your whole rotten village". (Final line, to Matt Skilbeck) Background information *In December 1985, when Sgt MacArthur was looking around the quarry for the stolen money after a tip off from Jackie, Mowlam hides the loot under some corrugated iron and then makes a sign of the cross, indicating that Harry was probably a Catholic. See Also *Full list of appearances Category:Emmerdale Farm characters Category:1986 deaths Category:1983 debuts Category:1986 departures Category:Farmers Category:Businessmen